Auctioneer Joseph Kabe has a way of sniffing out the good stuff that has been hidden in homes for decades, sometimes generations, and that is something that he has proven many times over the 35 years he has been auctioning. His most recent discovery, however, eclipsed all of his previous finds and resulted in the highest price the auctioneer has achieved at one of his sales.
His first advertisement for the April 10 auction featured a photograph of what he surely considered to be the lead item from the auction. A simple ad, it merely depicted a Chippendale highboy with three detail photographs and the accompanying text identified the item as a “first time offering, Pease family, Goddard Townsend highboy, original condition.”
The ad, run a month prior to the sale, created quite a stir. A fresh-to-the-market Goddard Townsend highboy with the coveted signature carved open talon on the ball and claw foot is hardly something that appears with any regularity. A handsome piece, other detail photographs illustrated the “paneled crest” in the bonnet top and the “carved shell” in the base.
Americana experts and collectors waiting patiently for the auction and for Kabe’s next ad; however, the highboy was not illustrated, although a quality assortment of other items from the Pease family and select consignments were featured. The ad Kabe ran the week of the auction once again featured the highboy, and, come sale time, a full house of interested people was on hand.
The Rhode Island estate of the Pease family, whose lineage stretched back to the Eighteenth Century in the Newport area, brought buyers out of the woodwork. Virtually all of the high-stakes Americana players were in town on that Saturday evening, some there for the first time and others who had been out to inspect the lots privately. There were also a host of people there in spirit †ready to bid telephonically.
The rare Goddard Townsend-made Newport bonnet top highboy was the key lot of interest among collectors, one of 12 known examples, according to Kabe. With the exceptional reticulated talons on the ball and claw feet, the highboy had descended in the same family for more than 200 years.
“It came directly from the family,” commented Kabe. “Been there since the 1870s when the family divided up a previous estate.” Noting a minor burn on the side that may have been caused by a Betty lamp, a couple minor pieces of veneer losses and a couple of the talons having been broken off, the auctioneer commented that the rare case piece was all original. “Original finish, original brasses; this is the king of Americana,” he stated as he mockingly planted a kiss on the highboy.
When asked an hour prior to the sale what he thought it might bring, Kabe shrugged his shoulders and said, “We shall see, there is no reserve.”
The crowd in the auction hall was large and there was a real excitement in the air. Many of the top guns were in the room, others were being named by the locals as having already viewed the lot and rumored to be bidding by telephone.
Americana dealer Leigh Keno paraded through with a client in tow. Roberto Freitas stood quietly in the rear of the gallery. Bill Samaha poked around looking things over. And David Schorsch appeared shortly before the sale got underway. Names such as Guy Bush, Arthur Liverant and C.L Prickett were being tossed about by the crowd in the auction hall as other possible phone bidders.
The Pease family materials included quite a few select pieces, among them a sampler, a portrait and a host of other early pieces of furniture.
The auction got off to a quick start with a pair of Windsor fanback chairs selling at $2,300, followed by a box lot that Kabe called a “box of whatever” †with who knows what in it. Must have been a couple good things, as the box sold for $402.
An hour into the sale, Kabe readied his staff and made sure that all of the clients that had registered to bid on the highboy were on the phones. The Goddard Townsend highboy did not need much of an introduction and Kabe was brief, stating that it was “99.9 percent original, that it was rare and ready to go&•
Kabe asked for $100,000 opening bid and a hand from the far side of the gallery shot straight up into the air and waved vigorously in an attempt to catch the attention of the auctioneer. Schorsch successfully opened the lot and he was immediately countered from the rear of the room by Freitas. Schorsch hit the lot again at $150,000, although it was not long before Samaha, who was seated just a few feet away from Schorsch, jumped into the fray. Bidding bounced back and forth between the two until Schorsch said no, and Samaha claimed the lot at $431,250.
A shell carved Newport desk that was missing its base was offered next, also from the Pease family, with it also selling to Samaha at $12,350. The next lot was a small sampler from 1748 by Mary Pease that was actively bid, at first in the gallery and then on the telephone. In the end, Samaha claimed the lot at $17,250. A Pease family portrait met with less enthusiasm, selling for $4,600.
A Connecticut oak joined chest, circa 1690, was bid on by several in the crowd, with Schorsch opening the lot at $5,000. A buyer in the room came away with the lot at $14,950.
Other items in the sale included a Queen Anne tiger maple highboy that realized $8,625, a Federal sideboard brought $4,600, a tiger maple bowfront chest made $2,817, and an inlaid New Hampshire style Hepplewhite bowfront fetched $2,300.
A nice set of Pease family Federal shield back chairs, two armchairs and six side chairs, were in rough condition and sold at $2,300, while a pair of Duncan Phyfe side chairs brought $1,725.
A small Impressionistic painting with a signature that at least one viewer thought may have read “Potthast” attracted attention from several in the crowd, selling for $6,037. A painting signed Drew depicting Boston made $1,897, an early icon depicting Madonna and Child brought $1,150, and a large ornate Nineteenth Century frame realized $1,322.
Perhaps the small size kept the price down; a highboy as a miniature benchmade example of a Chippendale case piece went out at $575. A miniature chest of drawers with ivory pulls sold at $632.
A Buddy L truck attracted a great deal of attention from the crowd, with active bidding resulting in a price of $517 and an early Navajo rug realized $1,322.
Prices include the 15 percent buyer’s premium. For information, www.josephkabe.com or 203-877-0143.
